An Almanac for Farmers and Lovers in Mexico

Kate Tarker’s “An Almanac for Farmers and Lovers in Mexico” — a magically lyrical and comical look at love, youth and true commitment — was a last-minute choice for Barnyard Theatre’s annual play. It is directed by Eden Tomich, with important lighting design by Andrew Buderi.

“We were looking for scripts and nothing really materialized that we were excited about,” said co-producer Steven Schmidt. We were just about at the point where we thought we won’t do anything this year when one of our young members brought in a script and decided to do it.”

They didn’t start rehearsing until four weeks ago, which is a very short time, when you consider that the historic Schmeiser Barn must be transformed from a working barn (with livestock inside) into a working theater, all the while rehearsing a show.

Judging by opening night, this does not look like a hastily slapped-together show. The acting is quite good, and the set, designed by Tomich, while simple, works well. The big round stage is just gorgeous, as are the multitude of paper lanterns that hang over the stage, lending a nicely diffused light to the action.

Flora (Rachel Pinto), an American anthologist working in Mexico, is getting ready to celebrate her wedding in two days, and this should be a joyous time for her were it not for one fact: Her fiancé Pele (Antonio de Loera-Brust) has been turned into a hummingbird and now lives in a cage, which Flora caries everywhere with her, trying to find a way to get him back in time for the wedding.

Pinto brings depth to her character, as she anguishes over the loss of Pele and the frustration of dealing with both the impersonal governmental regulations and the fates that seem stacked against her.

Kane Chai gives a stand-out performance as the sardonic San Cristobal (St. Christopher), the invisible guide for all the action that happens in the play. He has a twinkle in his eye and a smirk on this face as he watches Flora’s attempts to find a way to restore Pele to human form.

Brian Oglesby gives a wonderful performance as the impersonal judge who so manipulates his visiting hours to avoid Flora that she resorts to catching him at his home as he gets out of the shower.
Flora’s friends are Molly (Renn Andrews), Zoe (Sarah Green) and Henry (Matt Fyhrie, who provides comic relief). Along the way, everyone goes through a voyage of personal discovery, especially Flora and Pele (who does eventually appear in human form).

This is a one-act play without intermission.

(Please note: The play contains some strong language and two comedic scenes referencing sexual situations that may not be appropriate for all children.)

Barnyard Theatre is one of Davis’ lesser-known gems, and it’s well worth investigating. They even provide the mosquito repellent. And be sure to catch the Burma Shave-like signs that line the dirt road to the barn itself.

Seussical

 

“Oh the things you can think
“When you think about Seuss.”

The audience at the Music Circus were all thinking about Dr. Seuss when “Seussical” burst upon the stage of the Wells Fargo Pavilion, like being shot from a circus canon. With costumes by Kate Bergh and the wonderful puppets of Richard Bay, all of your favorite Dr. Seuss characters came to life in a cacophony of color and music.

“Seussical,” by Tony award nominees Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty, and Eric Idle centers on three of Theodor Seuss Geisel’s best loved stories, “Horton Hears a Who,” “Horton Hatches the Egg” and “Gertrude McFuzz,” but pulls in characters from many of Seuss’ other stories as well.

It is all orchestrated by the irrepressible Jason Graae, the Cat in the Hat, who acts as a sort of ringmaster for the scenes that are to follow. With a delightful twinkle in his eye, Graae is mischievous and fun to watch.

The heart of “Seussical” is Horton, the elephant, played by John Treacy Egan in a marvelous baggy pants suit with a long tie as his trunk. You can’t help but fall in love with Horton, filled with gentleness and a genuine heart, who cares for everyone and always keeps his word, no matter how uncomfortable it makes him.

Early in the show, he discovers Whoville, the teeny tiny world of the Whos, who live on a big puffy dandelion. Though nobody else believes in their existence, Horton vows to help them save their world, in his own version of “Whos lives matter.”

Eleven-year-old Josh Davis, last seen at Music Circus as Michael Darling in “Peter Pan,” plays the young boy who meets the Cat in the Hat, and then morphs into JoJo, the son of the Mayor of Whoville (Jamie Torcellini) and his wife (Eydie Alyson). They don’t know what to do with a boy who thinks, so they send him off to military school run by General Genghis Khan Schmitz (Stuart Marland)

JoJo is a misfit in the military and has a beautiful duet with Horton, “Alone in the Universe,” as the two of them share their feelings of loneliness because they are “different,” and realize that they aren’t really alone.

You called my name and you set me free
One small voice in the universe
One true friend in the universe
Who believes in me

The ever-helpful Horton agrees to egg-sit for selfish Mayzie LaBird (Ginifer King), while she shops for an hour. But she disappears and leaves him literally holding the egg for over year, protecting it from rain and despite the derision of everyone around him. He is going to keep his promise, no matter what, even though he is captured and put on display in a zoo. (“I said what I said and I meant what I meant. An elephant’s faithful 100 percent”)

Horton’s best friend, Gertrude McFuzz (Bets Malone) is a bird with only one feather in her tail, who is really in love with Horton. She gets her wish for a bigger tail, which causes problems she never envisioned and she learns how one has to be careful with wishes.

Sharon Wilkins makes an impact with her Sour Kangaroo, who doesn’t add much to the plot of the show, but certainly knows how to belt out a song.

Other beloved characters who appear are the Grinch (Seth Danner) and Yertle the Turtle (Eric Anthony Johnson).

Don’t look for a real plot in this show, but sit back and enjoy the color, the costumes, the puppets, and the music, which, while not particularly memorable, is fun in the moment.

Bring the kids; they’ll love it.

Constellations

“Constellations,” by Nick Payne, now at the B Street Theatre, talks about the unlikely play topics of relativity, quantum mechanics and string theory. It’s like “The Big Bang Theory” without the laughs.

The show examines the possibility of parallel universes — or not so much universes but paths: what might have happened if you had not gone to that party, or said that thing, or stayed with that person, or turned left instead of right at the intersection.

It’s difficult to explain in this quite odd, quite different, yet surprisingly engaging show.

“Constellations” examines what might have happened in these and other instances by following the relationship of Marianne (Dana Brooke) and Roland (Tom Patterson), who enter this “multiverse” and travel through it.

The backdrop on the stage is a star field showing various constellations, which light up each time the couple changes paths.

Marianne, a scientist at Sussex University in the field of quantum cosmology, first meets Roland, a bee keeper, at a barbecue where she breaks the ice by telling him why it’s impossible for human beings to lick their elbows. Roland blows her off. Suddenly we hear a ding, a different constellation lights up and the same conversation takes place, with a different reaction on Roland’s part. Another ding and the same scene is played a little differently again.

This is the “multiverse,” which, over some drinks at a bar, Marianne explains is the hypothetical collection of infinite alternate universes existing alongside the one we perceive as reality. It’s all part of general relativity, quantum mechanics, and the various string theories that connect them.

“Let’s say that ours really is the only universe that exists,” Marianne explains to Roland. “There’s only one unique me and one unique you. If that were true, then there could only ever really be one choice. But if every possible future exists, then the decisions we do and don’t make will determine which of these futures we actually end up experiencing.”

Lost yet?

Well, don’t worry, somehow it works to create a complicated yet beautiful relationship between these two likable people playing out the various possibilities in their lives. They go for a drink, or maybe they don’t. They fall in love and live together, but break up, or not. They have a chance meeting and feelings are still there, but Marianne is engaged, or maybe Roland is married. Maybe their time together will be tragically short.

The juggling of time periods and emotions requires excellent actors who can change the whole mood of a scene from flirtation to courtship to infidelity, to joy, illness and heartbreak, just by a slight shift in posture or a look in the eye. It’s really quite remarkable.

This show will not appeal to everyone, but it’s really a fascinating piece of theater, performed by two talented actors, and just think — if you happen to meet another B Street patron at a barbecue, “Did you see ‘Constellations’?” is a lot better conversation starter than “Do you know why it’s impossible for human beings to lick their elbows?”

Bells are Ringing

Gia Battista as Ella.

Gia Battista and Ian Hopps just may be the quintessential musical comedy couple. They play Ella and Jeff in “Bells are Ringing,” the second half of the Davis Shakespeare Ensemble’s summer festival, now at the Veterans Memorial Theater through July 31.

“Bells are Ringing,” by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, with music by Jule Styne, is directed by Dennis Beasley (his directorial debut with DSE). Written in 1956, it was a vehicle for Judy Holliday and while it may be thin on plot (as are most musicals of that era), it is long on heart, music and dance.

Battista’s Ella is a spunky heroine, who makes every appearance on stage a delight. She works at “Susanswerphone” and can’t help getting involved in the lives of those for whom she takes messages.

She has her favorites, particularly Blake Barton (Kevin Gish), an out-of-work Method actor; Dr. Kitchell (Tim Gaffaney), a dentist who hates dentistry and just wants to write music; and playwright Jeff Moss (Hopps), who is suffering from writer’s block. He calls her “mom” because she uses an old lady voice and he thinks of her as a mother who pushes him to do better.

Ella considers the relationships with these clients “perfect” because she can’t see them and they can’t see her (“It’s a Perfect Relationship”).

When Jeff leaves his phone unplugged and thus she cannot call to wake him for an important meeting, she sneaks into his apartment to wake him up. Their relationship begins, though Jeff doesn’t have a clue who she really is.

Hopps is a dream of a leading man, a younger, thinner Matt Damon-type with the dancing grace of Neil Patrick Harris. He and Battista have great chemistry and though they endure the expected bumps in the road over their two days together, you know that eventually it will all come out just fine.

A minor plot concerns Sandor (Kyle Stoner), a bookmaker, who decides that “Susanswerphone” is the perfect cover for his book-making activities. Sue (Sydney Schwindt) is blissfully unaware of his real business and he keeps her off base by pretending to court her while she thinks she is helping his “Titanic Records.”

Stoner is just wonderfully sleazy. He leads perhaps the most fun song of the show, explaining how his system works.

It’s a simple little system any child can understand
The composers’ names, we list them with the racetracks of the land…
…What is Beethoven? (Belmont Park)
Where’s Puccini? (Pimlico)
Who is Humperdinck? (Hollywood)

(The system might have worked if only Beethoven had written a 10th symphony.)

At the same time for some unknown reason (but important to the finale), Inspector Barnes (J.R. Yancher) is convinced “Susanswerphone” is a cover-up for a call-girl operation and sets out, along with his assistant Francis (Johnny Quesada), to follow Ella and see if he can catch her cavorting with the customers.

The base set from the previous night’s “Cyrano” works well as the setting for “Bells are Ringing” and nicely camouflages the seven-piece orchestra, directed by Peter Kagstrom, in the middle of everything.

The only thing missing from the opening-night performance was a larger audience. It would be a shame if more people didn’t see this excellent production.

For a housekeeping note, the high school parking lot is closed for the summer, but parking is available either on the street, in the St. James Catholic Church parking lot or in the parking lot at the Stephens Branch Library. The city also has created a new white zone directly in front of the Veterans Memorial Center for easy drop-offs.

Cyrano de Bergerac

Matt Edwards, William Oberholtzer, Jessica Woehler, Johnny Quesada, Philomena Block, Harvey Jordan, J.R. Yancher, Lisa Halko and Sydney Schwindt perform in the Davis Shakespeare Festival's production of Edmond Rostand’s “Cyrano de Bergerac,” running through July 31. Gabby Battista/Courtesy photo

 

 

The Davis Shakespeare Ensemble opened its 2016 festival this week, with an impressive production of “Cyrano de Bergerac,” directed by Rob Salas. “Cyrano” will run in repertory with “Bells are Ringing” through the end of July.

Edmond Rostand’s story (adapted by Anthony Burgess) may be one of the saddest love stories written. Cyrano is a man with great moral values, noble to the core. He is a dashing swashbuckler, able to take on 100 men single-swordedly.

He is glib of tongue and has a wonderful sense of self-deprecation, knowing his shortcomings … or is that long-comings, referring to his prominent proboscis. He deflects insults about his nose with jokes of is own making — “ ‘Is this a conch? … are you a Triton?,’ “That’s a dwarf pumpkin, or a giant turnip!” “When it bleeds it’s the Red Sea!”

Matt Edwards is a marvelous Cyrano, full of cape-swirling panache. He is in love with the beautiful Roxane (Kristi Webb), but knows his suit is hopeless as she is in love with the handsome but inarticulate Christian de Neuvillette (Pablo Lopez). Christian is also in love with her and asks for Cyrano’s help in wooing the lady of his dreams.

Cyrano writes the words that help Christian ply his suit, unaware that they are Cyrano’s own feelings for the girl. When Christian is sent off to battle, Cyrano goes along to protect him, and to write letters home to Roxane for him, to keep the love alive.

When Christian is killed, Cyrano has too much respect for Roxane’s feelings for her husband to let her know the truth about him. He remains her friend, and silent lover, for the rest of his life, leading to a beautifully touching death scene.

But Cyrano is far more than a story of unrequited love. There is plenty of sword play (Sydney Schwindt is fight director, though Edwards is himself a fight choreographer) and lots of bad guys to go around.

There’s Comte de Guiche (Tim Gaffaney), a powerful, married nobleman himself in love with Roxane and not fond of Cyrano. He attempts several times unsuccessfully to have Cyrano killed,
Ragueneau (Harvey Jordan) is Cyrano’s friend, a baker and a poet, who becomes Roxane’s porter after his business fails.

William Oberholtzer is Le Bret, Cyrano’s BFF, who tries to steer his friend in the least dangerous path, but his advice is usually ignored by Cyrano.

Kyle Stoner is Vicomte de Valvert, the nobleman chosen by deGuiche as Roxane’s husband. He is tricked by Cyrano to remain outside the house while Roxane is secretly wed to Christian, and then is defeated in a duel after the wedding, when he objects.

The multi-level set is designed by Niko Rabbitt and, together with the costumes by Caitlin Cisek, works well to create the look of a 1600s city.

“Cyrano de Bergerac” is a play that has it all, from verbal duels and actual swordplay, to a beautiful love story, to honor and friendship and a hero who stands head and shoulders above many heroes.
The Davis Shakespeare Ensemble does justice to this classic tale and it sets the stage for a promising summer festival.

For a housekeeping note, the high school parking lot is closed for the summer, but parking is available either on the street, in the St. James Church parking lot or in the Stephens Branch Library parking lot. The city also has created a new white zone directly in front of the Veterans Memorial Center for easy drop-offs.

Hello, Dolly

Everybody’s favorite matchmaker, Dolly Gallagher Levi, is at the Music Circus this week, and it’s nice to see her back where she belongs.

Jerry Herman’s award-winning “Hello, Dolly” burst onto the stage of the Wells Fargo Pavilion, and, despite it being the hottest night of the year (so far), the show was energetic and dazzling, and the action was non-stop (thank goodness the Music Circus tent was replaced years ago).

With direction by Glenn Casale, choreography by Randy Slovacek and costumes by Marcy Froehlich, this production is just stunning.

In the title role is Lynne Wintersteller, who seems a younger Dolly than we are accustomed to, but she is a take-charge, no-nonsense woman whose life is devoted to “arranging things” (like furniture and daffodils — and lives).

A widow of many years, Dolly has decided it’s time to get back into life and sets her beautifully feathered cap for curmudgeon Horace Vandergelder (Stuart Marland). Each of Dolly’s musical numbers is a show-stopper, perhaps most of all “Before the Parade Passes By,” an amazingly choreographed number that ends Act 1.

Marland, who played Mr. MacAfee in last season’s “Bye Bye Birdie,” is delightfully grumpy until he finally realizes that for all of his apparent dissatisfaction with Dolly’s work on his behalf, she’s really the only woman he actually wants to marry.

Vandergelder’s two store clerks, Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker, offer great comic relief and the story of their adventure in New York almost surpasses that of their boss and Dolly. John Scherer, as Hackl, in his 14th Music Circus show, has this wonderfully open face of a 43-year-old innocent who has never left Yonkers, and whose main hope on this adventure is to actually kiss a girl.
Jordan Grubb, as Barnaby, is the perfect bumbling sidekick, who follows Cornelius’ lead, but who is nervous about consequences Cornelius never even considers.

The two young men stumble into the hat shop of Irene Molloy (Jacquelyn Piro Donovan), and meeting her and her assistant Minnie Fay (Sarah Marie Jenkins) will change the lives of all four young people in a way they never imagined.

Donovan has a lovely voice that dominates in the poignant “It Only Takes a Moment” as she describes how her day with Cornelius has affected her.

Sainty Nelsen has the job of crying. All the time. Vandergelder’s niece Ermengarde wants only to marry her beau Ambrose (Justin Schuman), against her uncle’s orders, until Dolly steps in. Nelsen and Schuman are fun to watch in the dance competition at Harmonia Gardens restaurant, where everybody eventually ends up.

Of course, the Harmonia Gardens is almost a character itself, with its famous waiters, headed by Rudolph (John B. Williford). The dancing of the six waiters in the Waiters’ Gallop is stunning and when Dolly makes her entrance to the title song, well … you know you are seeing classic theater.
Put on your Sunday clothes and get yourself over to Sacramento and catch this delightful production while you have the opportunity. “Dolly’ll never go away again,” but “Hello Dolly” will be leaving at the end of the week.

The Totalitarians

Cassidy Brown and Kelley Ogden perform in the Capital Stage production of
“The Totalitarians,” running through July 24. Charr Crail/Courtesy photo

 

 

About 10 minutes into playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s hilarious comedy, “The Totalitarians,” I was convinced that we had found Donald Trump’s playbook. At intermission, I checked on the date of publication and learned it was first produced in 2014, while Trump was still firing people on “The Apprentice,” and his watch words were “You’re fired,” not “Make America great again.”

I spoke with director Peter Mohrmann after the show and commented on the wonderful coincidence of a Trump candidacy at the time they were doing this show (which had been booked a year and a half ago). He said he had been nervously watching the campaign hoping Trump would not “peak too soon.”

But whether written with Trump in mind or not, this play will definitely have you making comparisons constantly.

Penny Easter (the amazing Jamie Jones) is an over-the top Sarah Palin-type who is running for lieutenant governor of Nebraska. She wears camouflage pants, carries a big crossbow and her only credentials are that she is a bright-eyed, good-looking former roller derby champ with great hair. She’s not too big in the brains department and tends to go off script and say whatever she thinks. She has a rich husband and a smile that charms everyone.

She is loaded with charisma (pronounced CHA-risma), she says. She uses off-color language and malaprops and has never heard of “political correctness.” She speaks in nonsensical rhetoric in such a stirring fashion that her followers are slavishly devoted and don’t realize she is making no sense whatever.

Sound familiar? This was written as a satire but, sadly, it doesn’t feel so much satirical anymore!
Penny’s long-suffering campaign manager, Francine (Kelley Ogden), is stressed to the max, and trying to balance her own political ambitions of becoming a speech writer for a big Washington politician with the job of writing a winning speech for a woman whose “stupidity is not an act,” she admits.

Her stress level is not helped by husband Jeffrey (Cassidy Brown), who desperately wants his wife to give up politics and agree to start a family. Jeffrey is a tender-hearted physician who can’t bear to let his patient Ben (Casey Worthington) know that he has aggressive cancer and will die within the month.

Ben is a political activist, dead set against Penny winning the election and willing to go to any length to make that happen. He draws Jeffrey, who has been feeling frustratingly ineffectual in his life, into his plans (it seems to be a coalition of two), unbeknownst to Francine.

Penny’s campaign takes off when Francine comes up with the winning slogan, “Freedom from Fear.” Temporary tattoos are given to the crowds with “FFF” on them and Penny’s speeches get more and more strident.

Then comes the “Freedom from Fear” moment and everyone raises their fists in the air. At first dead silence, just fists. And then a whisper growing, the crowd beings to chant “FFF. FFF. FFF.”

After a stump speech that any actress would die for, which Jones delivers with all the fervor in her bones, the campaign becomes wildly successful and the women are overwhelmed with the joy of creating such an emotionally effective response. In the meantime, Jeffrey and Ben are lurking in the city park trying to expose a totalitarian regime (“You think it’s a coincidence that Nebraska is the state where Kool-Aid was invented?) and relating to each other in unexpected ways.

This play is viciously funny in the first act, but a little less so in the second, though discovering Ben’s secret is definitely the key to the finale.

Stephen Decker’s set design is simple but marvelously utilitarian with pieces that slide in and out, up and down, without ruining the integrity of the basic message of the stage.

“The Totalitarians” is, at its core, a story about power. Penny Easter lusts for traditional political control. Ben seeks power through the destabilization of current power structures. Jeffery, feeling lost in his marriage, is trying to find power again through becoming a father. Francine is reveling in the power of creating a character who can rise to greatness using her words, though in her lust for success for Easter, she has forgotten her own set of values.

The end result is a dark comedy that rings all too true in this day and age.

The Music Man

Howard Hill (Richard Wall) charms the ladies of River City, Iowa, in the Davis Musical Theatre Company's production of "The Music Man." From left are Jen Nachmanoff as Mrs. Squires, Dannette Vassar as Alma Hix, Mary Young as Eulalie Shinn, Jean Thompson as Maud Dunlop, Jessica Arena as Zaneeta Shinn and Christina Rae as Ethel Toffelmier. Fred Gladdis/Enterprise photo

“The Music Man,” which closes out the Davis Musical Theatre Company’s 31st season, is a beloved musical that has been around since it opened on Broadway in 1957. It won five Tony Awards, including one for Robert Preston in the role of Harold Hill, the traveling salesman going about the country selling the promise of a boys’ band.

Preston made the role such an iconic one that when Cary Grant was offered a chance to play Harold Hill in the 1962 movie version, he is reported to have said that not only would he not play the role, but if they didn’t cast Preston, he wouldn’t even see the movie.

And so Preston has been the definitive Harold Hill for nearly 60 years; hundreds of actors have followed him, but none has the panache of Preston. Richard Wall, a middle-school principal from Elk Grove making his DMTC debut with this show, must have done a lot of channeling because his is the first performance I have personally seen, in a host of “Music Mans” through the years, that comes close to creating the magic of Preston’s performance.

According to co-producer Steve Isaacson, the last time Wall was on stage was in high school, when he played … Harold Hill.

But then most of the performers in this production, which DMTC has been presenting for years, are good. Wendy Carey, who grew up as a DMTC kid, plays Marian Paroo. Her voice is smooth as glass and she is a lovely Marian.

(A piece of local history: The dress Carey wears in the final scene was originally made by costumer Charlotte French in 1989 for Nancianne Pfister’s only on-stage appearance, in the Davis Comic Opera Company’s 10th-anniversary show. You have to love the small world of theater in Davis!)

Adam Sartain is very funny as Harold’s former partner in crime, Marcellus Washburn, who has found himself in the quiet town of River City, Iowa, and is settling down with the local piano player, Ethel Toffelmier (Christina Roe). Sartain is at his best leading the local kids in a rousing dance number, “Shipoopi.”

DMTC veteran Mary Young makes an imposing Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn (wife of the mayor, Steve Mackey). Young’s opening-scene costume is a study in yellow and is one of my favorites in the show. She looks like a canary among all those feather-hatted women gossiping about Marian.

Cullen Smith is sadly saddled with a terrible wig, but it does not detract from her delightful performance as Mrs. Paroo, Marian’s mother, who is up for doing anything to help her daughter get a man.

Ten-year-old Django Nachmanoff is an adorable Winthrop, the kid whose lisp makes him shy and silent until Harold promises him a coronet and a uniform with a big red stripe down the leg. His “Gary, Indiana” brought down the house.

Eight-year-old Gillian Cubbage, who made her DMTC debut last year in “The Wizard of Oz,” has fulfilled the faith I had in her during that show. Playing the mayor’s daughter, Gracie, she’s growing in ability and is as professional as any adult on the DMTC stage. (And it doesn’t hurt that she’s cute, too).

Jackie Smith-Induni does well as Amaryllis Hix, Marian’s piano student, who joins her in singing “Goodnight, My Someone.” She plays a lovely “cross-hand piece.”

Tommy Djilas, the “bad” kid from the wrong side of the tracks, is given an earnest performance by Jonathan Kalinen, while his girlfriend Zaneeta Shinn (Jessica Arena) shrieks “yeee-gods” with the best of them.

One other performer in a minor role who deserves mention is Jean Thompson as Maud Dunlop, wife of Ewart Dunlop (Jeff Nauer), a member of the school board-turned-barbershop quartet. Thompson has a magical face that just glows and makes any scene in which she appears extra-fun.

The barbershop quartet includes, in addition to Nauer, Jeremy Carlson, Scott Scholes and Andy Hyun. They are always fun and these guys do a good job of bringing back that old barbershop sound.

Returning to the DMTC stage after a hiatus is Ben Bruening as Charlie Cowell, the anvil salesman, out to expose Harold Hill for the swindler that he is. Bruening is suitably slimy and the man you want to boo.

This is an odd production in that Hill is going to form a “boys’ band” but, other than Winthrop, there are no young boys in the cast and the band to whom he says, “think, men” are all girls. But let it pass. No need to complain about such a small point in an otherwise enjoyable show.

A Revolutionary Mind

The cast of “A Revolutionary Mind,” presented by California Stage, includes Marion Jeffrey as Susan, surrounded by Michael Erwin as the Professor, Joe Monroe as Alan and Berman Obaldia as Raymundo Gleyser. Courtesy photo

 Leslie Lewinter-Suskind (“Italian Opera”) is introducing her new play, “A Revolutionary Mind,” at California Stage Theater’s R25 Arts Complex. The production is directed by Ray Tatar.

Drawing inspiration from the life and disappearance Argentinian filmmaker Raymundo Gleyzer, this play centers on Susan (Marion Jeffery), a boomer generation activist who was ready to set the world on fire and make it a better place for everyone.

But first she had to marry Alan (Joe Monroe); then the birth of a daughter, and then a son, intervene with her plans to save the world.

The show itself bounces back and forth seamlessly among three time periods — the present day, Susan’s college years and her dialogs with her professor (Michael T. Erwin) and conversations with Raymundo Gleyzer (Berman Obaldia) as she tries to make sense of her life and what she has accomplished. It also deals with the very real disappearance of her daughter, whom she has raised to be an activist and who went off to film atrocities around the world, like Gleyzer.

The success of this powerful plan rests on the performance of Jeffery as Susan. She is mesmerizing. She has the ability to transform from the modern-day subservient wife to the passionate student to the frustrated activist and back again with the mere turn of her head and slight change in her expression. It really must be seen to be appreciated.

Matching Jeffery in intensity is Obaldia as Gleyzer, a larger-than-life figure whose passion for recording the atrocities he sees around him and sharing them with the world ultimately will lead to his torture and execution. It is he who extracts the most guilt from Susan as he points out that while she has the desire, she gave it up in exchange for a husband and a suburban home where she gives dinner parties serving Swedish meatballs or fondue and attends meetings about the condition of the world.

(“How do you silence the real world so you can hear the real world?” she asks in anguish. Any frustrated activist in the audience will identify immediately!)

Erwin as the Professor is a nice, tell-it-like-it-is character who takes no excuses from Susan and always challenges her to be better than she thinks she can be.

At the same time, husband Alan (Monroe) is himself frustrated, wanting to be supportive of Susan, but tired of her leaving the family, whether physically or emotionally, to try to change the world.

As the play begins, he is dealing with the American Embassy, which has called to let the family know that their daughter is missing. The encouraging and then discouraging news of the daughter permeates the evening, and is driving Susan’s conflicted emotions, realizing that it was she who instilled in her daughter the need to change the world, which has led to this dangerous situation in which she now finds herself.

(According to his bio, “A Revolutionary Mind” is the first theater production for Monroe, and he certainly shows promise for future productions.)

While I found this play excellent and very moving, I also found it depressing. The collegiate Susan’s passionate hopes for her future are shared with her professor and sound like they came right out of a Bernie Sanders speech. (Maybe they did.)

The more that Susan, her professor and Gleyzer talk, the more one realizes that we have not come nearly as far as we hoped we had. We are still fighting the battles they fought during the civil rights era, only now we are fighting for the rights for even more categories of human beings. We still do not have universal health care or schooling available to all. Atrocities are still happening in foreign lands. The battle goes on, as it has for centuries.

I don’t know if this will be a wake-up call for all former passionate activists, but it certainly will leave you wondering how you might have done things differently when you had the opportunity. And does the life you have lived leave you satisfied with your own role in changing the world from the comfort of your air-conditioned house?

Caifornia's Everything Man

It’s likely that Ray Tatar is a familiar sight to many who visit California Stage. Tall and white-haired, the theater company’s hands-on artistic director greets every patron cheerfully.

Tatar’s theater roots go deep—although he’d initially planned a career in film. A theater gig in Southern California at Knott’s Berry Farm would eventually change that course, however. After graduation, Tatar worked in Hollywood as an intern on many TV series and films, including Funny Girl, but realized it just wasn’t his passion.

“I just couldn’t get film into my heart. Live theater always excited me,” Tatar said.

This week, Tatar finds new excitement at California Stage, directing Leslie Lewinter-Suskind’s A Revolutionary Mind, which opens June 17. The production explores the tumultuous Vietnam-era 1960s—a period that unarguably shaped Tatar’s outlook and ethos.

Back then, he attended UC Berkeley, where he worked at the Magic Theatre and received an MFA in directing. In the ’70s, Tatar ended up in the United Kingdom, where he worked at a theater for the deaf in London. Tatar also taught method drama at a junior college in the area—a job he got thanks to a connection he had with famed acting teacher Lee Strasberg.

When he returned to the states, Tatar worked as a drama critic for a TV station in Los Angeles, and in 1977 was named executive director of the LA Stage Alliance. In 1982, he went to work for the California Arts Council, serving under then-Gov. Jerry Brown and helping to raise millions for the theater community.

That same year, however, he also wanted a change and moved to Sacramento, where he founded the Sacramento Area Regional Theatre Alliance. SARTA, which bands together local organizations, actors, technicians and administrators to produce and promote work in the region, helped Tatar realize just “how powerful that kind of [organization] can be to service theater and community.”

Tatar only planned to stay in Sacramento for a few years, but after meeting and marrying his wife Susan, he decided to make it his home.

These days, Tatar is still active in the theater community, discovering new works for California Stage, including A Revolutionary Mind. The show, told in flashbacks and flash-forwards, tells the story of protesters who marched against the war in Vietnam.

“It’s a different type of play,” Tatar said of its unusual structure.

Its activism storyline and counterculture themes are also meaningful for him. “The heroine represents to me the boomer generation—we who marched against the Vietnam War, and who wanted to make the world better. We didn’t succeed.”

Tatar says the play speaks to the legacy of that generation and passes down the message to future generations.“We may not have been successful,” he said of the ’60s, “but maybe our grandchildren will be.”

Legally Blonde

Omigod, you guys! Elle Woods is at Music Circus this week!!

“Legally Blonde” (music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Neil Benjamin and book by Heather Hatch) is as light and frothy as cotton candy — and just as pink. It has all the story of the movie with Reese Witherspoon, but without the depth.

The songs aren’t memorable (except for the opening and recurring “Omigod You Guys”), but the cast is so enthusiastic and the dancing so infectious that you find yourself enjoying it in spite of yourself.

This particular production, directed by Michael Heitzman, is extra-special for a reason that I suspect few in the audience realize. The cast includes a member of the original Broadway cast, coming out retirement for one last production.

Chico plays Elle’s Chihuahua, Bruiser, and is very professional. He’s trained by William Berloni, a 2011 Tony honoree for excellence in theater and the trainer for just about any animal appearing on Broadway, starting with the original Sandy in the first production of “Annie.”

Chico (his understudy Roxie is also a Broadway veteran) didn’t miss a cue, made all of his exits, barked on command and performed his big moment, running across the room, jumping onto a bed and into a dog carrier, flawlessly.

Co-starring with Chico is Lauren Zakrin, as Elle Woods, who looks like a Barbie doll and acts like an air-headed sorority girl, until circumstances teach her that she has more brains than she gives herself credit for and that her life does not have to center around a handsome boy to be complete.
Instead of asking her to marry him, as she expects, Elle’s boyfriend Warner (Jordan Bondurant) breaks up with her, now that he is on his way to Harvard and a successful career. He doesn’t feel she would fit into the world that he imagines for himself.

With all the casualness of someone ordering dinner from a menu, Elle decides to go to Harvard Law School, too, and win Warner back.

Not surprisingly, she finds Harvard harder than anticipated, especially when taking a class from the strict Professor Callahan (Paul Schoeffler), who dangles four internships in front of his class and makes Elle finally get serious about her studies.

Emmett Forrest (James Michael Lambert) is the class T.A. who takes Elle under his wing, helps her buckle down and actually study … and falls in love with her in the process.

Along the way, she makes friends with beauty shop attendant Paulette Bonafonté (Ryah Nixon) and the two women become support for each other. Elle teaches Paulette the delightful “Bend and Snap” as a way to win the heart of the UPS guy Pforzheimer (Adam Lendermon). Lendermon is a man of few words, but definitely makes an impact.

Outstanding is Grace Stockdale as Brooke Wyndham, falsely accused of murdering her husband. Brooke is a famous exercise instructor and her “Whipped into Shape,” sung with an exercise class in prison, is a show-stopper.

There is a trial that takes place, during which some stereotypical gay sight gags went on far too long. I found them offensive, especially so soon after the Orlando massacre, though the audience laughed uproariously.

Eric Anthony Johnson makes the most of the small role of Carlos, whose appearance at the trial changes the course of things.

On the whole, Heitzman’s direction is fine, with such a big cast on such a small stage, but he occasionally has characters performing scenes facing in one direction so that our part of the audience saw them only from the back.

Lighting technicians, too, need to watch timing, as on more than one occasion, they brought up the lights too quickly, exposing the usually invisible set crew to the audience.

This is “Legally Blonde’s” debut performance at Music Circus and sets the stage nicely for a fun season with three more debut shows and two old chestnuts still to come.

Scapino

If you’re in the mood for an hour and a half of zany, slapstick fun, there’s still time to catch the free performance of Acme Theatre Company’s “Scapino,” on the outdoor stage at the Davis Arts Center.

“Scapino,” adapted from the original Moliere play, was written by actor, clown and comedian Bill Irwin and humorist Mark O’Donnell. Originally a 16th-century Commedia dell’arte production, it is not surprising that this modern comedy is funny from start to finish.

With pirates, stolen babies, mistaken identities, overbearing mothers and conniving heroes, all this show is missing is music to place it right in the Gilbert & Sullivan vein!

As director Maddy Ryen comments, “ ‘Scapino’ is not a comedy with a lot of depth. It’s heavy on the commedia slapstick and our production … aims to evoke as much of an old-time vaudeville feeling as we can.”

The program explains that it’s set in San Francisco, though other than a backdrop of the Victorian “Painted Ladies,” you’d never know it.

With only 12 people in the cast, this may be the smallest of the annual Acme Memorial Day shows, but the small cast was able to devote more time to perfecting the roles.

Rocket Drew, in the title role, is perfect as the wily rapscallion who plays both ends against the middle, nearly seamlessly. When Octavio (Meili Monk) confesses that he has fallen in love with the lovely Hyacinth (Eleanor Richter), though his mother has already arranged a marriage for him, he turns to Scapino for help.

In the meantime, Scapino’s boss Leander (Isaiah Darshan) has fallen love with the pirate girl named Zerbinetta (Bella Houck, who may have been cast for her ability to laugh endlessly on cue!), and knows that his father is going to be furious. He, too, turns to Scapino for help.

Scapino is aided in all of his machinations by his pal Sylvester (Sarah Zaragoza-Smith). Throughout her history with Acme, Zaragoza-Smith has played a number of pint-sized spitfires and this works extremely well for her in this production.

Actress Maddie Olwert wrote in her bio that she is always cast as “fancy and opinionated elderly women.” Maybe it’s because she’s so good at it. She plays Octavio’s mother, Madam Argante, determined to make the right marriage for her son, partly because of a big secret that is revealed toward the end of the show.

Andres de Loera-Brust is Leander’s dad, Mr. Geronte, and Isa Sultan is Nerine, Zerbinetta’s traveling companion

Making the zany antics just that much more zany are the “Zanni,” a trio of music makers — Patrick Foraker, Mikaela Manzano and Maya Tripathi — who play slide whistles, tambourines, blocks and a host of other noise makers to accentuate the action on stage.

Little kids will love this show even if they can’t figure out what is happening, but there is so much visual comedy going on, one doesn’t need to understand the thin plot, which becomes much easier to follow by Act 2. Adults will love the comedy, the corny jokes and the subtle references to current pop culture.

With a barbecue outside the Arts Center starting at 5:30 p.m. and the free show beginning at 7, this is an early evening, but lots of fun for all. Bring your chairs and/or blankets to sit on the grass, and don’t forget a sweatshirt when the sun goes down.

Mr. Burns

Director Mindy Cooper, University of Granada artist-in-residence, explains that “Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play,” now on stage at the UC Davis Wright Hall Main Theatre, is playwright Anne Washburn’s exploration of a post-apocalyptic society, questioning what survives and what doesn’t, and how things change.

Using the backdrop of the popular “Simpsons” episode “Cape Feare,” the play, sometimes clearly, sometimes muddily, takes us through a dystopian society that has undergone great destruction and shows how the survivors cope.

The play is structured into three scenes: shortly after the event (whatever it was) takes place, the second seven years later and the third 75 years later.

It’s difficult not to think of Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451″ when watching the first scene. In that classic work of science fiction, all the books in the world are burned, but a small group of dedicated readers survives and each has memorized his or her favorite book and is now teaching it to a younger person, so the story can continue.

In “Mr. Burns,” five survivors are gathered around a campfire (there is no electricity) and they begin to recreate their favorite Simpsons episode, “Cape Feare,” in which Sideshow Bob stalks Bart Simpson with threats to kill him (people who make lists place this 1989 episode as No. 2 in the top 10 “Simpsons” episodes). For the newly displaced and shell-shocked survivors, it’s a bit of normalcy that helps them push away their fears … for the moment.

Matt (Matt Skinner) and Jenny (Leah Daugherty) lead off, yelling lines at each other, as they try to get the show in sequence, with the nervous Maria (Rose Kim) reacting in delight.

Interrupting the fun of the group is a new arrival, Gibson (Ryan Gerberding), who has been traveling across the country assessing the damage. The action takes a very somber tone as they learn which cities he has visited and bring out their book of lists to ask if, maybe, somehow, he has come across one of their loved ones.

Eventually Gibson, too, joins the others in remembering a beloved television episode.

Others in this group include Delaney Leigh McCowan as Colleen and Zach Padio as Sam. These six actors will continue to take similar roles in the subsequent two scenes.

Over time, this “Simpsons” episode takes on almost cult status, first seven years later (in the most muddled of the three scenes) as performed by one of many groups of “Simpsons” episode re-enactors. Their performance includes reminiscing about food and drink they once had (“at this point all I care about my imaginary alcohol is that it is aged”), obsessing on where Diet Cokes have gone (“I know a guy in Wichita who has a stash of Diet Cokes and do you know what he’s selling them for? Lithium batteries. Two a can.”) and comparing their productions of the “Simpsons” episode with other companies’ productions.

Gerberding takes on the role of a menacing Sideshow Bob in this scene while Padio becomes Bart, Skinner is Homer, Kim is Marge (carrying the blue Marge Simpson wig instead of wearing it), and Daugherty is Lisa. In this scene, the cast is also joined by Danika Burmester, in-law of the legendary Davis theater family, as Quincy/Wife (and Edna Crabapple in Scene 3).

After 75 years, “Cape Feare” has become a full-blown cult classic, with the menacing character now Mr. Burns, rather than Sideshow Bob (Gerberding again). This scene adds a host of new characters, the Nuclear Family Players, and music by Graham Sobelman (musical director) and Aaron Molho (for some reason, the music also includes excerpts from Gilbert and Sullivan).

This is not a show for everyone. It has the feel of a cult classic and “Simpsons” fans will love it, while non-“Simpsons” fans may find parts of it funny, but perhaps not get all the “in” jokes and references to the original.

The script assumes that the audience is already familiar with not only the major characters but also the minor characters, like Itchy and Scratchy and Apu. This may be why there was so little laughter in the audience, though encouraged at the start of the play to laugh loudly.

If you can find a copy of the original “Cape Feare” episode, I suspect it would greatly enhance enjoyment of this play.

Motown the Musical

“Motown the Musical,” now at the Sacramento Community Center Theater, is the loud, flashy, audience-pleasing story of Berry Gordy, the man who gave the world Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and the Jackson 5, just to name a few. One wonders what the music world would be like today if not for Berry Gordy.

While Gordy’s musical vision was second to none, sadly, his talents as a scriptwriter are less acute. Gordy wrote the book for this musical, which is filled with 68 Motown songs by some of the best knock-off stars around, and the script serves — barely — as a hook on which to hang those famous songs. One wonders if Gordy should have been a bit more realistic about his shortcomings and left the writing of this show to others more experienced.

But then the happy crowd was not there for the story, but for the music, as each familiar tune brought cheers from the audience from the first familiar notes.

The device used to telling the Gordy story is the 25th anniversary of Motown, for which there is a show planned in Pasadena. Gordy (Chester Gregory) is refusing to attend because he believes all of the stars he helped to make “betrayed” him by going off and making it bigger on their own. (How dare they!)

This is a good jumping-off point for meeting the young Gordy and his dream to make records, and the growth from the original “Hitsville, USA” to the more familiar Motown, a name based on the location in Detroit, “Motor City.”

While covering the 25 years of the growth of African-American music, the show gives a backdrop of the tumultuous civil rights movement, the assassinations of both President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., and so in a peripheral way, it becomes the history of black America of the 1960s.

With sensational dancing, dazzling costumes and often eerily accurate vocal imitations, the show does not disappoint.

Galen J. Williams, as Jackie Wilson (Gordy’s first find), starts things off with a rousing rendition of “Reet Petite.”

Allison Semmes makes a wonderful Diana Ross, as she goes from a giddy star-struck teenager to the icon that she becomes. Her interaction with the audience in Act 2 is particularly good and, on opening night, she pulled an amazing volunteer out of the audience to join her at the mic. (I think Semmes was as stunned as the audience.) Ross gets the most stage time because of her years-long personal relationship with Gordy.

Jesse Nager had the audience at “hello” in his first appearance as Smokey Robinson, though like most of the other big Motown names, he pretty much takes a back seat to Diana Ross throughout the show.
Leon Outlaw Jr. may have a small role as Michael Jackson but he steals the show and was decidedly an audience favorite. He had all of Jackson’s moves down and it was almost sad to see how much joy he brought to the role, thinking of Michael’s later life.

A bittersweet moment was when Jarran Muse, as Marvin Gaye, sang an a cappella version of “Mercy, Mercy Me,” trying to explain to Gordy why he was leaving Motown.

At 2 hours and 45 minutes, this is a longer-than-usual musical. If you are a big fan of very loud concerts, you will love this show, but if your sensitive ears hurt from the amplification, you might consider ear plugs. It will make the whole experience less painful and still allow you to enjoy the music and the dancing. (Ear plugs won’t fix the script, though!)

Not Medea

“Not Medea,” a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere by playwright Allison Gregory, has opened at the B Street Theatre’s B3 Stage and is a work that is both funny and painfully shocking.

The play was a 2015 O’Neill finalist and included on The Kilroy’s 2014 “The List,” an industry survey of “excellent new plays by female-identified playwrights.”

Directed by Gretchen Corbett, this is a tour de force for actress Lori Prince, who plays a pediatric oncologist newly divorced, with a young daughter. Today is her allotted day to have the child, but she is frazzled and just needs a couple of hours to get away.

“Usually I go straight home and nurse a fat drink,” she says, “but not tonight. Tonight is about theater!”

It is a dark and stormy night … really! Claps of thunder are heard outside. Before the lights go down in the theater, the woman (known as “Woman”) rushes in, laden with packages, frantic to find her seat before the show starts. It’s not the play she wants to see, but she needs to get away and this is where she ended up.

She speaks to the audience about what brought her here and begins to reveal something about herself. Her child is apparently at home with a baby-sitter, but calls often, concerned about when Mommy will be home, and also about her missing Cuddle Bunny.

“I’m kinda at my wits’ end. All the questions, it never stops. Wears you down, you know? I had to get away from her. That sounds awful doesn’t it?”

As she walks onto the stage, still looking for a seat, Woman notices the Medea set and encourages the audience to leave.

“It does not end well, my friend. No, do yourself a fat favor and go! All of you, go! I’m not kidding, forget the ridiculous amount of money you just paid and get out.”

As she continues to mutter, she talks about her similarity to Medea, including the fact that her husband, too, was named Jason (though no hero, she is quick to add). She is obviously hiding a big secret that sometimes doubles her over with emotional pain.

“Poor Medea wanted to end her personal pain. Yeah, don’t we all? So what? She was a monster.”
“Chorus” wanders in to speak the lines from the play, and Woman adroitly slips back and forth between 21st-century Woman and the ancient character of Medea.

(“Chorus” is one woman, Deonna Bouye, whose role is brief, but she holds the show together and helps weave it smoothly between mythology and reality.)

Ross Hellwig is the Green hero Jason — tall, strikingly handsome and passionate, but later cold and cruel.

Woman, like Medea, falls for Jason and her bitterness grows as Jason turns cold.
Throughout the play, Woman hints at her deep, dark secret and everything in the telling of the Medea story reveals more and more until at last, she confesses everything and is overcome with the pain of her grief.

The play has a lot of humor, but it also packs an emotional wallop. As Woman’s secret is told, the audience is moved to tears and feels her pain. This is an unusual show, but powerful, and very special.

Disgraced

(From L to R) Adam El-Sharkawi, Jennifer Le Blanc,
Michael Patrick Wiles, Atim Udoffia 

\

A powerful, thought-provoking night of theater awaits audience at Capital Stage.

“Disgraced” is a Pulitzer Prize-winning, Tony Award-nominated play by Ayad Akhtar, directed by Michael Stevenson. With its theme of cultural identity at its core, this is a timely play, the most-performed play across the country in the 2015 season.

Leading an exceptionally strong cast is Adam El-Shakawi as Amir, a Pakistani-American attorney, moving up the corporate ladder and on the way to becoming partner in his prestigious law firm. Amir has rejected his cultural roots, hidden his Pakistani origins, and considers himself a good American.
His wife Emily (Jennifer LeBlanc) is white and an artist who is inspired by Islamic imagery and who seems to have a closer relationship with the good parts of Islam than her husband, but who can’t understand the culture on the cell level like Amir, who grew up in it.

LeBlanc gives Emily a blissfully idealistic character, fiercely protective of her husband, and infused with the love of the good parts of Islam, without really seeing the negative parts that have turned her husband against his culture

When asked by his idealistic nephew Abe (Benjamin T. Ismail), Amir reluctantly agrees to attend a hearing of an Imam wrongly accused of collecting money for terrorists. (“Don’t think of him as a Muslim, if you don’t want to. Just think of him as a wise man, who so many people depend on.”)
Though he does not actually represent the Imam, a photo in the newspaper “outs” Amir and starts difficulties at work, as layers of his carefully constructed past begin to peel.

Amir and Emily host a dinner party for Abe (Michael Patrick Wiles), the Jewish curator of a museum interested in Emily’s paintings, and his African-American wife Jory (Atim Udoffia), who is a colleague of Amir’s. Things aren’t going well even before the guests arrive, as Amir’s past is coming unraveled … his birth in Pakistan, his name change, etc. He has had a difficult meeting with one of the law firm’s partners.

During the uncomfortable dinner, while wine freely flows, conversation turns those subjects that should not be discussed in polite company — religion, politics and sex. Personal insults from the culture of each of the four start to emerge (kind of like having your mother fly out of your mouth when you are angry, though you vowed you would never say the things she always said).
By the end of an evening ultimately defined by hatred and rage, revelations have been made that are life-changing and unalterable.

In the final scene, it is three months later, and life has changed significantly. Amir, who has lost his job, is packing up the apartment. Nephew Abe has become a vocal spokesperson for the plight of Muslims, and accuses Amir of turning his back on his own heritage. (“You’ll always turn on your own people. You think that makes these people like you more when you do that. They don’t. They just think you hate yourself. And they’re right! You do!”)

As the play draw to its conclusion, it should leave audience members examining their own cultural feelings. Am I really comfortable with the mixed-race couple next door? Am I automatically uncomfortable when a man in a turban is flying on my plane? If a Jewish person heads up the local bank, do I think, even briefly, about his heritage? Do I extend myself to a woman in a hijab, or do I avert my eyes and wonder if her family might be terrorists?

We live in an era where so many of us are fearful and where anybody who isn’t just like us is considered suspect, even though we are ashamed to think of ourselves as having these feelings.
Akhtar rips off the Band-Aid on these feelings and exposes them to all of us, forcing us to take a hard look at how we really are … and are we a greater part of the problem than we wish to admit? Are we all, on some level, “disgraced”?

Mud Blue Sky

From left, Tara Sissom, Jamie Jones, Elisabeth Nunziato and Alexander Pannullo
deal with a 7-Up explosion in "Mud Blue Sky,"
on stage now at the B Street Theatre in Sacramento. Courtesy photo

 There was a time when many high school girls wanted to be stewardesses (in the era before men were allowed to serve airline passengers and they became “flight attendants.”)

There was something about the glamor of the life, flying all over the globe, serving famous passengers. The dress code was strict, there was a set weight limit and girls learned how to wear the proper amount of makeup so they always looked perfectly beautiful. The life was glamorized in the recent television series “Pan Am.”

Marisa Wegrzyn’s “Mud Blue Sky,” now on the B Street Theatre’s Main Stage, shows the reality behind the glitz and the glamor. The life of constant layovers leads to many nights in dingy hotels, absurdly early mornings and much time spent away from loved ones.

While this script is very funny, the work probably should be more properly considered a “dramedy” for the moments of pathos and sensitivity it displays. But mostly it’s just knee-slapping funny.

The setting is a dreary hotel near Chicago’s O’Hare airport and Beth (Jamie Jones) has just checked into her room, one of questionable cleanliness. She’s exhausted, her back hurts, and she just wants to be alone.

Sam (Elisabeth Nunziato), however, is ready to party and tries to entice Beth into a night of drinking and carousing. When not trying to play the party girl, Sam is on the phone dealing with her teenage son spending his first week at home alone, and feeling guilty that she isn’t there to help him with the problems he is encountering.

Beth seems desperate to get Sam out of her room, supposedly so she can get some sleep before their 5 a.m. wake-up call.

Nunziato and Jones have worked together so much over the years that watching the sparring between them in this play is like watching old friends bicker.

As it turns out, Beth isn’t planning on sleeping at all, but is meeting her teenage drug dealer, Jonathan (Alexander Pannullo), in the parking lot to buy some marijuana from him to help her get through the night. He has been her supplier for a couple of years and they have an odd friendly relationship.

It’s Jonathan’s prom night and his date has ditched him to go out with other friends. He looks rather lost in his tuxedo selling drugs to a middle-aged woman in a parking lot.

Pannullo is new to B Street and one might think he came from the young people’s program, so convincing is his teenage Jonathan. In fact, he is a UC San Diego graduate with a solid list of theatrical credentials behind him.

Jonathan ends up in Beth’s room to collect money from her, where he is discovered by Sam, who is later joined by Angie (Tara Sissom), a former flight attendant who lost her job because of her weight problems.

The dialog among these four souls, each at loose ends over what to do about their various concerns, is rapid-fire and funny, but there is an undercurrent of sadness for all of them. There is Sam’s guilt over being an absent mother, Beth’s decision about whether to take a severance package and leave the job before she is fired, Jonathan’s angst about what to do with his life and Angie’s apparent happy life, hiding how much she misses the camaraderie of the flying world.

There is no real plot to this show, and no real resolution at the end, but it’s more like sitting around with some old friends, having a few drinks, laughing and sharing memories. Like taking a brief flight, the passengers/audience can enjoy sharing the moments before the plane lands and the play ends.

Opening-night patrons are always treated to champagne and hors d’oeuvres at the end of the play. This night, we were greeted with Styrofoam containers of airplane-like dinners and bowls of peanuts. It was the perfect way to keep everyone in the mood for a while longer.

Hound of the Baskervilles

Joe Higgins as Mr. Frankland, Michael RJ Campbell as Dr. John Watson
and Sean Patrick Nill as Jack Stapleton perform in
Sacramento Theatre Company’s “The Hound of the Baskervilles.”
Barry Wisdom Photography/Courtesy photo

  

Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson are traipsing out onto the moors now to solve the crimes of the mysterious “Hound of the Baskervilles,” at Sacramento Theatre Company,

This adaptation is by playwrights R. Hamilton Wright and David Pichette, who have kept the basic mystery intact while adding bits of humor between Holmes and Watson as well as some plot and character twists along the way.

Reprising their roles as Sherlock and Watson from STC’s 2011 production of “Sherlock Holmes: the Final Adventure” are William Elsman and Michael RJ Campbell, respectively, both of whom give impeccable performances. Elsman is tall and erudite and sees clues that no one else catches; Campbell is the blustery, sometimes sardonic, always-faithful Watson. He is the “human element” that the OCD Holmes relies on in order to connect with a case’s human side.

The play begins in Holmes’ drawing room, where he is complaining to Watson that life is boring and that his most recent crimes have offered him no challenge. Right on cue, a challenging case comes knocking at his door in the person of Dr. James Mortimer (Casey McClellan).

The wealthy Sir Charles Baskerville has been found dead in his home, seemingly of natural causes, but Mortimer is suspicious because Sir Charles died with an expression of horror on his face and he noticed “the footprints of a gigantic hound” nearby.

The Baskerville family supposedly has been under a curse since the era of the English Civil War, when Hugo Baskerville offered his soul to the devil for help in abducting a woman; he reportedly was killed by a giant spectral hound. Sir Charles believed in the curse and apparently was running away from something when he died.

Mortimer fears for the life of Charles’ heir, Sir Henry (“call me Hank”) Baskerville (Dan Fagan), a cowboy from Canada. Hank is unconcerned about the curse, despite a mysterious anonymous warning note he receives, and moves into Baskerville Hall anyway.

Holmes finds the mystery intriguing though he claims he has another matter to attend to. He sends Watson to observe the goings-on and meet the local characters — each of whom has his or her own reason to have wanted Sir Charles dead. (Holmes, in the meantime is doing his own investigation, unbeknownst to Watson.)

Others in the cast include Matthew Rives as the butler Barrymore, Cynthia Speakman as his wife, and Aviva Pressman and Sean Patrick Nill as the neighbors, Beryl and Jack Stapleton. Some have projection problems and their lines were lost.

What makes this production so much fun is the scenic design by Jarrod Bodensteiner and Renee Degarmo and the lighting design of Jessica Bertine. While the whole stage is a rocky section of the Devonshire moor, pools of light focus on smaller scenes while the setting is soundlessly changed on the other side of the stage, the technicians working in pitch darkness.

William Myers’ sound effects, particularly the creepy growls and attacks of the hound, add a particular creepy quality to the story.

You can never go wrong with a good Sherlock Holmes mystery, and with the likes of Elsman and Campbell at the helm under the direction of Michael Laun, this one is a winner.

Brigadoon

From left, Tomás Eredia as Harry Beaton, Erik Leiken as Piper
and Scott Griffith as Sword Dancer are in
the DMTC production of “Brigadoon,”
on stage from April 22 through May 15.
Fred Gladdis/Enterprise photo

I had no idea there were so many men with kilts in Davis until I entered the Jean Henderson Performing Arts Center for opening night of Davis Musical Theatre Company’s “Brigadoon.”

The lobby was full of them, including one man who brought his bagpipe (though didn’t play it), as well as women in various types of plaids, from skirts to sashes. The bar was serving a Scottish-named drink and I expected to see haggis at the snack bar.

It was all great fun and a good way to get in the mood for a trip back to Scotland to that mysterious highland town that appears out of the mist only once every 100 years.

The Lerner and Loewe classic has been around since it first appeared on Broadway in 1947 and became more popular when made into an MGM musical in 1954, with Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse. It has always been one of my favorites, and I was happy that this DMTC production, directed by John Haine, did not disappoint.

From the beautiful choral numbers sung by all the townspeople to the lively Scottish dancing choreographed by Ron Cisneros, this is a loving production enjoyed by the near-capacity crowd on opening night.

We first meet Tommy (F. James Raasch) and his sardonic friend Jeff (Coury Murdock) while they are wandering, lost in the Scottish highlands. Tommy confesses that he’s rather lost in his own life, too, engaged to a girl he’s not sure he loves, and part of a world in which he does not feel comfortable. The sounds from the waking Brigadoon seem to come right on cue.

Raasch is a likeable fellow who was a good choice for the role of Tommy. As for Murdock, the character Jeff has few, if any, redeeming qualities. He has a negative and sardonic outlook on life, which is not helped by the flask he keeps raising to his lips.

The two stumble into this 18th-century village enjoying the third day of their “miracle,” which will be explained later by the wise Mr. Lundie (Jeremy Carlson). Tommy is instantly drawn to Fiona MacLaren (Jeri Gonzales), who’s in town to shop for the wedding of her sister Jean (Jessica Arena).
The character of Fiona is quite a departure from the fiery Aldonza that Gonzales played in “Man of La Mancha” and she could not have done it better. Her voice has the strength to handle the most operatic melodies, yet her personality is warm and engaging.

Also outstanding is Scott Scholes, as Charlie Dalrymple, Jean’s fiancé. He had a delightful innocence about him as he contemplates his wedding (“I’ll go home with Bonnie Jean”).

Also outstanding is McKinley Carlisle as the bawdy, libidinous Meg Brockie, who lures Jeff to her shed and proceeds to show him that the Scots are more “generous” than they have a reputation for being. Her lusty “The Love of My Life” is great fun, as is her “My Mother’s Wedding Day.”’

Tomas Eredia had the monumental task of stepping into the role of Harry Beaton — Jean’s angry, scorned suitor, who threatens to destroy Brigadoon by leaving it — when the original actor cast in the role broke his leg two weeks before the opening. On the whole, he handles the role well, but he needs to work on “being dead” a bit more convincingly.

Alison Weaver, as Maggie Anderson, performs a heart-breaking grief dance following Harry’s death. We feel her pain.

The ache of the funeral is further spotlighted by the mournful bagpipe of Erik Leiken (who doesn’t love a good bagpipe?).

Jean Henderson’s colorful costumes add to the atmosphere of a Scottish village, especially in the entrance of the clans, with each decked out in its special tartan sash.
There is a new name in the pit, Peter Kagstrom as music director, who did a fine job with the DMTC underground orchestra.

For anyone who has enjoyed this delightful story over the years, or who just believes in magic and wants to see it appear on stage, this is an engaging production.

Alice in Wonderland

 

“You must be mad,” said the Cat, “Or you wouldn’t have come here.”

Greg Alexander’s adaptation of “Alice in Wonderland,” now at the B Street Theater as part of the Family Series is billed “for ages 5+.”  They got that right.  The little kids sat entranced and laughed uproariously at the zany antics on stage.

This is not your mother’s “Alice,” nor is it Lewis Carroll’s.  The outrageous frenzy was great for the kids, but wore a bit thin.  The beloved fairy tale turned into a moralistic lesson in 12 step programs, self-help groups, and parenting lessons thinly disguised as life in Wonderland.

Alice is not a little girl, but a petulant, self-indulgent teenager, with lots of food allergies, and glued to her cell phone.  She, with her friends, speaks in Internet-ese and says “OMG!” and “Like-Like-Like!” a lot.  When she follows the White Rabbit she loses first loses her GPS and then her cell phone itself, in strange ways peripherally related to Carroll’s story, and has no clue how to survive.

Ultimately, this becomes a lesson in realizing she had those skills all along (I expected someone to invite her to click her heels together).

The weirdness of the script should not take away from the fine acting by the cast, particularly Stephanie Altholz as Alice, who has developed the annoyingly accurate screeching inflection of a spoiled teenager and John Lamb, in several roles, each one fun to watch, particularly the caterpillar.

Music composer Noah Agruss along with playwright Alexander has written some cute songs, particularly the opening number, familiar to anyone living in the Internet age.

Newsies

“Newsies,” now at the Community Theater in Sacramento, is another mega hit from the Disney machine. It is a stage adaptation of the 1992 Disney movie, inspired by a newsboy strike in New York in 1899 where an organized group of children brought the city to a halt. Hundreds of boys and girls who sold newspapers on the streets of New York formed a union and marched onto the Brooklyn Bridge and other places around the city in order to put a halt to traffic and other businesses.

While they were not happy with working conditions, the straw that broke the camel’s back was when publishers Joseph Pulitzer decided to raise the distribution prices the newsboys had to pay to get papers in the first place in order to increase his profits.

The kids won. Eventually the newspaper magnets came to a workable compromise with the spokesmen for the newsies and presumably everyone lived happily ever after.

“Newsies,” the musical, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman and book by Harvey Fierstein is filled with high-energy physicality with about 15 male dancers who provide enough dancing for the most ardent of dance enthusiasts. They leap, they somersault, they tap up a storm.

When the show opened on Broadway in 2012, it was planned for only 101 performances, but it quickly gained such a cult following that it ultimately ran 1005 performances, was seen by over 1 million people and made Disney another $100 million. The show received eight Tony nominations and won the award for choreography and original score.

It is fortunate that the story is easy to follow because the always horrible acoustics at the Community Theater made it just about impossible to hear the words being sung. I was afraid it was my hearing, but have since heard from several other people that they couldn’t understand any of the lyrics either.
But then you aren’t likely to go home humming any of the tunes either. They are pleasant and enjoyable, but there is nothing memorable about them.

The universal “urchin look” of the boys made it difficult to tell one from the other, but Joey Barreiro as Jack Kelly, the leader of the pack who wants to leave New York and move to Santa Fe, and Zachary Sayle as “Crutchie,” his crippled friend were both quite good, as was Morgan Keene as Katherine, harboring a secret that could make or break the strike.

The real star of this production is the set designed by Tobin Ost. It looked like it was made with the world’s largest erector set, a massive collection of metal boxes and staircases that rolled in and out and around, and ended up as one giant wall across the stage for the finale. Onto the backdrop are projections of scenes from around New York that add a note of authenticity.

This is a triumphant, feel-good musical, with lots of things to like, but not destined to become a classic theatrical work.

West Side Story

 

“West Side Story” — the classical musical with book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim — debuted on Broadway in 1957 and set a musical style that moved musical theater in a whole new direction.

It opened last weekend at the Woodland Opera House, under the direction of Angela Baltezore, with musical direction by Dean Mora and vocal direction by James Glica-Hernandez.

“West Side Story” is, of course, the “Romeo and Juliet” story, modernized and set on the mean streets of New York. It revolves around the running feud between the Sharks (Puerto Ricans) and the Jets (native New Yorkers). Some of the material (particularly the barely censored language, such as “Gee, Officer Krupke — krup you”) seems a bit dated, but the hatred between gangs is, sadly, even more relevant today.

Those in the audience opening night were in for a big treat. This is a wildly energetic show, with powerful performances and lively dancing (choreographed by Staci Arriaga).

There are 10 newcomers in the 28-member cast, which may account for the quality of the overall performances, several of which were outstanding.

Donovan McNeely was powerful as Riff, the leader of the Jets gang. Likewise, most of his crew rose above the norm for memorable performances.

Daniel Silva fairly crackled with barely repressed rage as Action, while Bailey Robinson-Burmester was dynamic as A-Rab and Jordan Hayakawa works her darndest to make herself one of the gang as Anybodys.

The Sharks were led by Kevin Gruwell as Bernardo, a powerful performance. The extra heft on his body made for a more menacing Bernardo, unquestionably the leader of this gang.

Raymond Whitney as Chino had a smaller role, as the potential mate for Maria, but in the crucial moment, his pain and anger were palpable.

Of course, the lovers in this story are Tony (Joshua Wheeler) and Maria (Giana Gambardella), both newcomers to Woodland. In a run-of-the-mill production of this show, Wheeler, an excellent singer, could stand tall as Tony. But when up against the passion and fire of the members of the two rival gangs, his energy just could not match and he paled in comparison, though still gave a fine performance.

Gambardella, on the other hand, gave an impeccable performance. She beautifully portrays the innocent excitement of a young girl falling in love for the first time, never more evident than in her “I Feel Pretty,” as she prepares for her date with Tony, and the anguish of a young woman who feels her life crashing in around her as Tony falls victim to Chino’s gun.

Another newcomer to Woodland is Christina Castro as Anita, Bernardo’s girlfriend. Castro is a real firecracker, showing all the Latin temperament that Anita should. She may have been at her best in the number “America,” flashing her colorful skirts (costumes by Denise Miles).

Her duet with Maria (“A Boy Like That”) was outstanding, as she struggles to balance her grief at Bernardo’s death, her anger at Maria for being in love with his killer, and her love for Maria, understanding the depth of Maria’s feelings for Tony.

There is a full orchestra of seven under the baton of Dean Mora. I was most impressed by Cassandra Brokken, who often played her bass, in that cramped orchestra space, almost like a guitar.

There’s not much you can do to pretty up a stage to represent the back streets of a New York slum, but scenic designer John Bowles has found creative ways to use chain-link fences and creates enough levels, using boxes and walls, to allow the men to jump, somersault and chase each other around the street like a Cirque du Soleil rehearsal.

This is a must-see show for lovers of musical theater. All involved in this show, whether on stage or backstage, can be proud of the end result their hard work.

DMTC for SNR

It was 3 a.m. on a day way back in 1984 when Jan Isaacson woke husband Steve and told him it was time to start a family. Not that kind. Rather, she told him they needed to start a theater company. Jan envisioned a company that would encompass all ages and feature only musical theater productions.

And so they did. The Davis Musical Theatre Company spent many years “homeless and wandering,” according to Jan, looking for a permanent location. It found that stability in 2005, when the company built the Jean Henderson Performing Arts Center, a 240-seat theater in Davis.

At 32 years of age, DMTC is now the state’s longest-running, year-round, nonprofessional musical theater company that includes a full orchestra and a young performer’s theater.

“We must be doing something right,” Jan says of the company’s longevity.

For its principal players, DMTC’s success is rooted in its homey vibe. “There’s a real sense of family about the group,” says DMTC actress Dannette Vassar, who joined in 1997. “There’s not the backstage drama that you sometimes find in other theater groups. It’s a very comfortable place to be.”

Over the years, the company has grown from a struggling community theater to a first-rate amateur theater.

After a recent performance of Man of La Mancha, Nancianne Pfister, a veteran of the Davis theater scene, was so impressed she wrote a letter to its directors. “Everything about [the show] was without flaw: music, acting, directing, set, costumes … the show was a true lift to my soul,” she wrote.

There are two shows left in DMTC’s current season: Brigadoon, which opens April 22, and The Music Man, which will open June 17.